The crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane due to Russian air defense systems demonstrates that Russia's war against Ukraine is increasingly affecting innocent people, according to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Twitter (X).

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev said Russia is behind the Christmas Day crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane in Kazakhstan, which killed 38 of the 67 people aboard. The motives of the incident remain unclear.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that Russia’s air defense systems were active when an Azerbaijan Airlines flight attempted to land in Grozny, Chechnya on Wednesday.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev says the Azerbaijani airliner that crashed last week was shot down by Russia, albeit unintentionally

Putin apologized to Azerbaijan's president after a passenger plane was diverted from south Russia and crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.

Azerbaijan's president accused Russia of trying to cover up its role in a plane crash that killed 38 people. Preliminary results of Azerbaijan’s investigation into the crash indicated that a missile from a Russian air-defense system hit the aircraft.